Nitter and XCancel shut down following legal actions by X
Privacy-focused services Nitter and XCancel have been officially suspended after receiving legal pressure from social media platform X. Nitter, an open-source project that allowed users to view public posts without logging in or seeing ads, had previously faced a cease-and-desist letter for allegedly violating API usage rules by scraping data. Despite initial resistance and temporary resumptions of service, both platforms have now been effectively shut down: Nitter’s GitHub page was archived on September 11, putting it into read-only mode, while XCancel announced its suspension due to ongoing legal developments. The closures are significant for users who relied on these services as alternatives to the main platform. By offering ad-free and account-less access to public content, they provided a way to consume information without contributing directly to X’s user metrics or monetization strategies. This aligns with past actions by Twitter (now X) against third-party apps that accessed its data outside of official channels. The shutdown reflects broader tensions between platform control over data and the demand for privacy-focused alternatives, highlighting how legal pressure can effectively eliminate such services.
Tickers: $TWTR
Topics: API usage cease-and-desist letter Nitter privacy tools X (Twitter)